2018.11.15 Thu, by
M+ announces the establishment of the Sigg Prize

[Press Release]

The Sigg Prize recognises contemporary art practice in the Greater China region. The announcement of the shortlist of artists nominated for the prize will be made in March 2019.

(13 November 2018, Beijing) M+, Hong Kong’s museum of twentieth- and twenty-first-century visual culture in the West Kowloon Cultural District, is pleased to announce the launch of the Sigg Prize, which recognises outstanding artistic practice in the Greater China region. This prize continues and expands the work the Chinese Contemporary Art Award (CCAA) has done over the past two decades.

The Sigg Prize evolved directly from the CCAA, established by Dr Uli Sigg in 1997 and chaired by Liu Li Anna since 2011. As the first award for contemporary art in the Mainland, the CCAA has been a leading force in steering Chinese art and artists to the world, helping to frame the international conversation on Chinese contemporary art. M+ has supported the work of the CCAA since 2012, when the Sigg Collection—the most substantial collection of Chinese contemporary art in the world—arrived at M+. A member of the M+ team has been on the jury since then. The CCAA is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, and this is a critical moment for the award to move onto a greater global platform. To this end, the CCAA is becoming the Sigg Prize, a new M+ programme. The Sigg Prize is open to artists born or working in the Greater China region, with the intention to highlight and promote on an international scale the diverse and exciting artistic work and cultural dialogues taking place here.

A nominating committee composed of curators and art critics who have profound knowledge of art practices in the Greater China region will propose candidates for the consideration of the Sigg Prize jury. When making their selection, the jury will focus on each artist’s practice over the past two years, reinforcing the prize’s commitment to bringing the most current production to a wider international audience. There is no age requirement for artists to be nominated. Six artists selected by the jury will be invited to present their work in December 2019 in the Sigg Prize exhibition, curated by Dr Pi Li, Sigg Senior Curator at M+, and held at the M+ Pavilion in Hong Kong. During the exhibition, the winner of the Sigg Prize will be announced. A cash prize of HKD500,000 will be awarded to the winner, and HKD100,000 will be awarded to each of the other shortlisted artists to encourage their future practice.

Dr Sigg, the founder of the CCAA, emphasised the importance of the evolution of the prize: ‘I am delighted to witness this milestone achievement of the award and thrilled for the transition. My primary purposes in establishing the award were to give encouragement to artists with talent, to enhance awareness on the part of a largely uninterested Chinese public, and to bring prominent international professionals to the Chinese art scene. After twenty years, Anna Liu and I think it is time to move forward, to make the award accessible to more audiences and artists. I am looking forward to seeing the prize mature into being a global influencer.’

Suhanya Raffel, Executive Director of M+, commented on the connection between the prize and M+’s mission: ‘In the past two decades, the CCAA has made an undeniable contribution to Chinese contemporary art. We are pleased to grow the CCAA into an M+ programme and launch the Sigg Prize, with the ambition to establish it as the major art prize with an exhibition in this region. The Sigg Prize embodies M+’s remit as a multidisciplinary museum of twentieth- and twenty- first-century visual culture. The move strengthens the connection between the award and the M+ Sigg Collection, supporting M+ as a platform for both the recognition and the collection of contemporary art practice in the Greater China region. By introducing the prize to a wider international audience, M+ will play a pioneering role in shaping the history of contemporary art in this part of the world and in encouraging public interest in visual culture.’

The Sigg Critic Prize—formerly the CCAA Art Critic Award, established by Dr Sigg in 2007—will be organised by M+ every two years, starting in 2020.

From left to right: Ms Liu Li Anna, President of the CCAA (2011-2018), Ms Suhanya Raffel, Executive Director, M+, Mr Victor Lo Chung-wing, Chairman of M+ Board, Dr Uli Sigg, Founder of the CCAA, Mr Duncan Pescod, Chief Executive Officer of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. Courtesy of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority

From left to right: Ms Liu Li Anna, President of the CCAA (2011-2018), Ms Suhanya Raffel, Executive Director, M+, Mr Victor Lo Chung-wing, Chairman of M+ Board, Dr Uli Sigg, Founder of the CCAA, Mr Duncan Pescod, Chief Executive Officer of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. Courtesy of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority